Let Us Help
by LilCardboardBoxThatIsBig
Summary: During the Ghost Portal's first sputterings of life, two lives were spiraled in opposite directions in a violent fit of energy. One is sent flying far into the Ghost Zone, while the other stumbles out into the Human Realm- both lost and confused. A ghost stuck in the human world, and a human stuck in the ghost world- and Phantom wants nothing to do with it.
1. Lost

A sigh resounded through the small room, along with the soft thump of a hand slumping against a forehead. "I don't know what to do...he's all alone out there."

Another sigh from the other occupant of the room. "I know Tuck." She banged her head against the desk in frustration. "But it's not exactly like we can just go in there after him! I think we'd just die too or something..."

"Die...?" The boy, Tucker contemplated for a moment, "Well if that...ghost told us any correct information other than that he has no interest in helping us get Danny back- then yeah maybe we shouldn't just barge into you know, an unknown world for freaking dead people!" He lifted his head to look at hers- which was still shoved into the desk. "Look, Sam- maybe we should talk to Danny's parents about this after all. They might know where to start."

Sam lifted her head to send him one of her signature glares, which in turn caused him to flinch. "I thought we both agreed that it would be a bad idea to tell them- and you know Danny would be mad at us, yeah?" Her glare hardened into an eye roll and slammed her face back into the desk dejectively. "Besides, Tuck, how the hell are we supposed to tell someone that their son isn't their son- especially when said 'son' is in the hospital! They're freaking out enough as it is."

"And not to mention...you know how much they hate ghosts- what do you think they'd even do to him? Let alone what they'd do to Danny when or if we even find him too?" This time it was Tucker's turn to slam his head into his knees, as he was sitting on the desk and leaning against the wall. "I wish my PDA could help here,"

Silence reigned for what felt like several minutes. The two friends were currently situated in Tucker's bedroom to discuss. It was the weekend so it wasn't hard to feign that they were just hanging out. Instead of well, having a heavy conversation of a lost friend.

Two nights prior the two of them were mindlessly messing around hanging out at their other close friend's house- Danny. Now the three of them had had a tight-knit friendship for years, meeting in elementary school, and had been inseparable ever since.

Two nights ago...a normal average Friday night...something happened. you got your normal scenario of peer pressure that followed bouts of video games and lazily snooping on the Internet. Average times. The peer pressure started out with an innocent curiosity, and an opportunity to explore it. Danny's parents are...well they're scientists that deal with the unknown prospect of what happens when and after a powerful death occurs. As such, they have a lab- right below their own home. Ectology was frowned upon- no one really knew anything about it...that's why they're trying to prove the existence of ghosts. Yeah, ghosts...apparently they are real. According to the Fentons- Danny's parents, ghosts are formed when something dies with a great bout of emotion towards one thing or another. It really was fascinating- yet unbelievable.

Having left the three children alone in their home, to have a meeting to discuss their scientific work, the three took an opportunity. Their lab was open, free to enter, and free to explore the contents and creations that resided there. The main attraction, of course, was the supposed entrance to the world that ghosts and all things Ectoplasm reside. In fact, the portal itself was the Fenton's plan to show the world that their study was very real- and to have access to more study of course.

Suddenly Sam's muffled voice intruded the silent mulling. "Why?" She raised her head from the desk and leaned back fully in the computer chair she was in. "Why did we make him show us that damn thing?"

There was a dry bark of laughter in response as the boy lifted his own head just enough to eye her.

Sam groaned in annoyance, "okay maybe I pushed a bit too much to have him show us the portal..."

"Yeah, Sam, you know he'd do anything for you even if he didn't want to." Tucker laughed more sincerely and was silenced by a smack on the arm and a defiant 'shut up'. "Well, actually that brings me to what I was thinking..."

Her violet eyes snapped to his attention with a wary expression. "What?"

Tucker looked thoughtful a moment and slowly opened his mouth. "Suppose you or I, especially you really, were in the same situation as him...you know as well as I do that he'd do whatever he could to at least try to help us. Damn him and his determination- we need to do something, Sam."

Their headstrong friend was currently lost in the world of the ghosts- and had been since their exploration into the lab in his basement two nights before. The portal...Sam and Tucker (specifically Sam really) had insisted he venture inside the machine that had yet to ever be powered up or ever work properly. With all honesty, Danny was the only one that had any belief in the prospect of ghosts and other Ectoplasmic beings- neither of the other two thinking anything of it. Of course the portal was safe- it wouldn't nor would ever work! Sam had just wanted to take a picture of him in there, and then follow him in. Snoop. Then leave. Simple.

He had refused at first...Tucker is the one who surprisingly gave him second guesses and ultimately Sam who pressured him into actually going through with it. With so much cockiness even that he didn't grab any protective gear first like the hazmat in his size that was hanging on a nearby rack. He just walked in, faced Sam, and gave one of his goofy smiles. Almost like he didn't have a care in the world. He probably wasn't even thinking about the worries of before, taking what the two said to heart. If they didn't believe anything would happen, maybe he shouldn't. Ghosts couldn't really be real, right?

It wasn't until he moved to call the two of them in with him that he flipped around like he heard something. Danny leaned forward and jumped in fright- catching himself on the wall. As if he had spontaneously turned the machine on himself, it sparked to life and enveloped her friend and the room in a bright green light. He looked mesmerized, not even afraid. That was until it started spewing sparks and the light got deathly cold and turned a couple shades brighter. She and Tucker had backed away yelling for him as she watched the last of his terrified and surprised features get swallowed by the cold spectral energy.

What came next was the scream...it had to be the hardest thing for her to hear in her life. It rocked her whole body...the sound of her best friend screaming at the top of his lungs like everything was being ripped away from him- literally. At the height of it, it morphed into something recognizably inhuman, before trailing off into the rest of the drowning noise of the power still being produced by the portal's first burst of life.

Sam shuddered as the thought brought her back to the accident. Shaking her head to clear it, she finally grasped what her friend had said. "You're right Tucker, we need to do something...but what though? Even if we do go in the portal looking for him, that saying we don't die in the process, how would we even know where to look for him?" She paused and looked at her feet, "-and we don't even know what he looks like. As weird as it is for me to say that."

Tucker put a hand on her shoulder, "It is, but only if what that ghost said is true of what happened." He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, "You think we could try and ask him again? When he gets out of the hospital that is..." He didn't look as hopeful as he sounded. As far as they could tell, the ghost that had stumbled out of the portal wanted nothing to do with the two of them- or helping their lost best friend. He did seem a bit concerned about Danny, but if he was gonna do anything about it, he wasn't gonna go about it with the two of them.

Sam snorted, "Doubtful. He didn't really sound like the nicest ghost...though he might even be, I don't know." That was the first ghost she had ever met, to be honest.

A few minutes passed, the only noise filling the room was their breathing and sam's fingernails tapping absently on the wooden desk while lost in thought. Glancing at the clock, Tucker rubbed his growling stomach...they had been in his room thinking for longer than he thought, but it didn't seem like it would end soon. They needed to come to some agreement, they had been mostly avoiding it since they had visited the ghost in the hospital several hours after the accident.

That ghost was sure to be released from the hospital fairly soon, they needed to figure out what their plan was beforehand. Usually striking nothing but dead ends that wound up with going into the ghost's realm themselves. However, that was a horrible idea...Tucker shuddered as he imagined what Danny had been through and what would happen if he and Sam tried to go through.

Deciding to steer his brain away from that thought, he hummed a moment and looked up. "Think he's got a name? The ghost I mean- I hate to keep referring to him as 'that ghost'...that's probably degrading." He winked at her. She hated anything being wrongfully degraded, surely this would interest her.

He received a blank deadpanned stare in return, "...Really?" she frowned but reluctantly nodded, "I mean I'm sure he does but what do you wanna call him on Danny's phone and ask? He's still in the hospital, and if you're not gonna call, you're sure as Hell not gonna try and visit again." She scoffed.

Tucker, on the defensive, lifted both of his hands up. "Hey, man, hospitals are freaky, okay?" He then shrugged and glanced at the clock again. "Anyways, how do you think Danny's doing with the whole- um ghost thing being alone in there and all?"

Sam was quiet a while as she tried to form previously haphazard thoughts together on the wellbeing of her friend. She couldn't even imagine his situation in his shoes. Being in a strange land (where everyone is dead for that matter) and being exposed to all that ghost shit constantly with no escape. Especially after what he went through with the accident itself...and it probably wasn't much safer in the ghost world either.

Everything he was experiencing, everything he was dealing with, he was doing it all on is own. With no explanation. She and Tucker probably knew more about what happened than he did himself. After all the ghost had explained annoyingly little about what he thought happened, but he had still explained more than they knew before. More than Danny knew most likely. Unless he found it out himself- if he was still alright that was. She didn't want to think about that.

The goth, even after all the flowing turbulent thoughts, had surprisingly little to display. "Well...for one thing, probably not well." Tucker agreed with a sound that heeded more explanation on her point. She sighed, "Look I don't even know how I'd feel, I can't imagine how he's taking it. You know how he is, he gets freaked out easily. Even so though, if he thinks there's a way out, he won't stop until he finds it. Even if it kills him."

"Bad choice of words there," They both cringed at this and sighed. "But...we can't just rely on him to get himself out of it." He paused, "If he even-" He nearly fell off of the desk sideways from fright. Sam herself jumped backward nearly knocking the chair she was sitting in over.

Tucker's cell phone had suddenly burst to life, its full volumed trill tore through the room, startling the two hushed teens. They both took a few deep breaths to settle themselves and locked eye contact. The phone continued to sing loudly, Tucker tore his eyes away and onto the phone that he jumped to reach.

Glancing at the name there was suddenly a different mood bathing the room- Jazz.

He gulped and pushed his finger onto the call button and set it to speakerphone so that they could both hear what they knew was coming.

 **"Tucker? Is Sam with you?** " The usually sing-songy voice of Danny's sister, Jazz, called through the device.

Sam finished calming herself down and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Jazz, I'm here too." There was a sigh of relief from the other end. "I'm assuming this to tell us Danny's being released?"

Another sigh, " **Yes...but, look I think you two should come over, we need to talk."**


	2. Homecoming-

**Yo guys! I just wanted to thank you for the early support you have given me, it really means a lot as it gives me more incentive to edit this into the best I can and post it. I have so many AUs and story ideas that I keep to myself, never having the motivation to get the best of it that I can written down. So thank you! I plan to go far with this one, but I do have a hectic life, so please excuse any absences or typo stuff.**

 **Oh, a disclaimer for this whole story-obviously I don't own anything but the story itself, and the idea lol. i think.**

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Having heard the urgent tone filter through the speaker of the phone, Sam and Tucker raced through Tucker's home and bursting past his mother with a quick wave and made it to the outside world. They faltered slightly as they each stood on their respective vehicles, and sped out onto the road.

Based on the call, they were going to confront the protective sister at her own home, which was fine by them. The only issue that either of them had was the inevitable fact that they were sure to have a run in with that ghost. Hopefully, it would be more uneventful than the previous encounter.

And so, the two sped down to the Fenton's household. By this point in their lives, they knew the route there like the back of their hands from the school, and either one of Sam or Tucker's homes (though in Tucker's case, the inside of his locker would probably be a better analogy due to the amount of time spent in his from being shoved into it). With the aid of their motorized scooters, they arrived at the house quite faster than they had thought. Before the family had even returned themselves, that is. Surprisingly.

Considering Mr. Fenton's driving tendencies, the two were sure that he would beat them to their house, regardless of where they were coming from. Even so, Sam decided it would probably be better if they were already here for the family, rather than to just barge in during them trying to settle their son down. In her and Tucker's reverie regarding Danny himself, they had mostly failed to think about how his family was dealing with the situation. Sam supposed the ghost himself was the reason for the family's unusual tardiness (when it came to Jack's driving, really). It was likely that he wasn't exactly willing to just get into the (rather unsafe) vehicle, and head to their home...only to be fussed over more. That was probably the issue...she sighed as she wondered what their own encounter would be when they finally arrived.

During their mad rush to get to the Fenton household, it had never crossed her mind on how Danny's parents and sister would be taking the behavior. Considering the situation, no one was or would be handling the situation with any amount of comfort in familiarity. It was all so...different. She began to contemplate what happened in the hospital after she and Tucker had left when she noticed Tucker take a seat on the small stone staircase leading to the front door. She glanced once more at the road and turned to join him on the step, sitting beside him.

Personally, the two teens had stayed in the hospital room that had been assigned to Danny, waiting until he would finally gain his conscience back. It was a lucky streak for all three, that when that moment came, his family had exited the room for their own reasons, leaving the three in peace. Jazz and her father had headed for their home in order to catch some sleep before returning in the morning, and his mother had left the room momentarily. Tucker and Sam had stayed...from guilt, and the need to make sure that their friend knew that the two of them were there for him, all things considering. However...well it wasn't until then that they had realized the situation was a bit more dire than they had originally assumed. When they had left- after being told to leave from the one person they were even there for- Tucker opted to inform the family, but this was only after an agreement was made. The hospitalized boy was to keep quiet- until he was home at least.

Neither Sam nor Tucker was aware of how fast the ghost would be released...they had been hoping to come up with at least a small or temporary solution before it happened, but alas.

As the two sat there in relative silence, Tucker suddenly cleared his throat a bit nervously. "So," he asked, looking up at the late afternoon clouds. "How do you think the ghost's reacting?"

Sam sighed before sending her friend a side glance. She thought a moment about actually responding, but the sound of a large vehicle barreling down the road at high speeds caught her attention instead. Within mere seconds, the shadow of a large RV washed over her as it skidded to a halt at the edge of the miniscule driveway. The Fenton Assault Vehicle- or well their family RV that had been tricked out with similar technology to the ones in their basement. The Fenton's were big on the whole naming everything they owned concept...

They kept to their seats on the stone stairs and watched as the machine was powered off with a rumble and 4 forms quickly clambered out. Danny was the first one out, and as such tried to escape into the street far away from the vehicle. Unfortunately for the teen on a mission, Mr. Fenton was right behind him and reached out officially blocking his escape. The bulky form of the father pulled his struggling son towards the house instead, where Mrs. Fenton was waiting to help restrain him. The two collectively were holding the boy almost completely off the ground in order to keep him from running away. Lastly, Jazz stood right beside the RV where she had silently stepped out...she just honestly seemed concerned as she simply watched her parents basically drag her brother closer to their home, him struggling non-verbally the whole way.

Tucker and Sam scooted off of the stone stairs and out of the way to join Jazz in watching the scene. At the door, Danny continued his attempt at writhing out of the parents' arms...with no such luck. He groaned in frustration and yelled at the two adults, "Let me go!" it was more of an exasperated cry than the demand that was intended. He continued to huff, and his crazed gaze hardened when it landed on the unsettled faces of Tucker and Sam. Tucker gulped when for a few seconds the eyes he was staring back at had turned a toxic shade of green...even so, he continued maintaining eye contact. It was almost impossible to look away, especially when they had flashed the unsettling shade of inhuman green before calming back down into an aggravated blue.

When the lowered voice of the father answered the previous weak demand, his stare did not flinch or stray from the two guilty teens. "Sorry, no can do there Dann-o! Come on, let's get you inside. _Now_ , okay?" Jack Fenton said in his usual carefree demeanor, but however, if you were listening hard enough there was a tone of authority under it. Sam recalled that he reserved that to the times he was warning his children before they crossed the line, or even on the off chance he'd reprimand them. Usually, his wife Maddie handled that hurdle, she usually was more realistic anyways. Even so, the man was not one to mess with, even the restrained teen got that message clear.

At the tired man's slight demand, Danny sighed with a small growl, and reluctantly ceased all struggling and standing normally. He stood deathly still, "Fine." He finally broke eye contact with Tucker, who was relieved for that matter and turned towards the door. As his parents were ushering him through the open door, he motioned with his thumb behind him towards the two friends one last time. "But oh, oh do not think that I do not need to talk to you two once I am out of this." He all but spat, continuing to walk forward with little to no resistance.

The two parents glanced at each other as their son entered their home. Maddie sent another confused glance at the children and sighed heavily as she followed her husband and son. The usual unbreakable demeanor had wavered...she looked a bit defeat as she disappeared into the hallway.

Once the door clicked shut, and the sounds from inside faded away, Sam crossed her arms and sent a side eye at Tucker. "Does that answer your question, or should we ask him personally?" The goth could hardly resist the sarcasm, honestly, some of the things out of her tech-obsessed friend's mouth just pulled it right out of her.

Tucker slumped his shoulders and huffed. "Obviously. So yeah I'd say not good, no." Sam snorted at the comment, yeah it didn't quite look like the one in question was handling any of this very well.

The cough of a throat being cleared yanked their attention from each other and back towards the RV. Jazz was still standing at the end of the short driveway, staring at them. Or perhaps staring past them and at her home, Sam wasn't very sure. All she knew is what the older girl had to be thinking of. Her brother.

Winning their attention, Jazz took a breath and put her hands in front of her. "Okay, I'm just going to put this out there, but that's not normal." She gestured at the door, "After you two left and he woke up, he's been freaking out at anything we say or do to him. Yelling too. I mean I'm used to him arguing with me and all, but he didn't even humor me when I tried to get him to talk through his issues!" She took a gulp but continued. "Then there was this whole thing about the hospital food. Any visitors including us. He needed to get restrained by the nurse even! Twice! And, oh my gosh when dad started talking about their plans for when they finally get to the working portal..." She trailed off, her hands falling a bit at this. "I mean, I still don't know how that just started working anyways...It's weird because neither do they for that matter. Maybe you guys should have visited more... it might have calmed him down better! Well, maybe not though, he didn't seem very happy to see you here at all. Well, or happy at all really, and he might have just freaked out more than he did. I don't know guys, he's-" she was practically on the verge of hyperventilating from her long-winded rant by the end of it.

Tucker waved his hands wildly in front of the girl's face and shouted over her. "Woah, Woah, Jazz calm down!" His wide eyes watched her carefully, ready to resort to shaking her out of her nervous stupor.

She paused and gave him a hurt look, still breathing heavy. "Calm down?" She huffed a bit annoyed at the boy, "My brother is acting-" Sam made a similar gesture to Tuckers at her, and she stopped to look at her brother's friend, a bit exasperated.

Sam bore her gaze straight in the older girl's troubled teal eyes, "Jazz. That's not Danny."

Tucker coughed awkwardly and moved closer to Sam, who sighed and took up her seat on the steps once again. She patted the spot next to her, motioning for Danny's sister to take a seat with her.

"That's...well out of anything I thought you guys were going to say, that's certainly not one of them." Her breathing returned to normal, if not a bit sluggish, and she had a deadpanned expression as she moved to take the seat Sam was motioning her to take. "Seriously, when I called you two over to talk about this...I didn't expect that." She rested two fingers on each side of her head, facing the street.

Watching the girl take a seat next to his friend, Tucker weakly pointed a finger at her. "What, so you believe it, just like that?" He brought his hand down and continued to stand where he could face the both of them. "I mean, I get that you're into the whole open-minded psychology thing or whatever it is that includes, but really? Dude, even if you told me the actual definition of why the sky is blue, I'd still be at least a little skeptical!"

Sam snorted at that last comment, "Wow, nice analogy, considering that literally happened the other day when Danny actually did explain why the sky was blue to you. And you know he had to be right since he's actually interested in that kind of stuff." She rested her hand on her chin and glanced the space next to her...Jazz was still gazing forwards, an analytical look coating her features.

"Yeah fair, but at least I wasn't lying!" He snapped a finger gun at her, though she was still glancing at the older girl. "...Uh, Jazz? You there?" He hesitantly asked upon noting her uncertain gaze as well. What concerned him personally, was the unfocused look her eyes contained- almost as if she was looking past everything and instead only saw her racing thoughts.

Without moving or focusing her eyes, she suddenly responded. "Yes." It was only after responding that her gaze narrowed and her eyes shined with an expression Tucker honestly couldn't read. Then again, most of the expressions he received on an average day were sarcasm and deadpanned from his friends, confusion, and happiness, again usually from his friends. He wasn't very good at this kind of stuff, Danny was better. Sam herself admitted that she simply didn't care enough to dwell on it, so he internally shrugged it off.

Jazz spontaneously stood up off of the steps and brushed off her pants, startling the other two teenagers- it was a good thing that Tucker was already standing for one thing (more room to jump and still land on his feet instead of potentially falling off the stairs). "Well, okay! No, I didn't believe it at first, to be honest." She made a gesture for emphasis. "However...look, the more I think about his behavior since you two informed us that he woke up the first time, the more I hate to admit that he was...yeah he wasn't acting right. I already explained what happened in the hospital..."

Tucker nodded at her, "Yeah, it's..." he trailed off awkwardly, while Sam looked skeptically up at her. Sam had a suspicion it wasn't just going to end like that. Not with a person such as Jasmine Fenton.

Jazz huffed her red locks out of her face and sat down again, she had really only stood in the first place to clear her mind a bit better. Get those creative juices flowing. "But," she sighed resting her head on her fist, "as much as it makes sense to just believe that, I don't. Sorry, but you two are just covering up for something, aren't you? I've known you three long enough to know you all cover for each other. Understandably, but come on, this is concerning my brother...who we almost lost forever the other day for crying out loud! Now isn't the time for things like secrets!" The older girl sent accusative glances at her brother's friends.

The goth girl rolled her eyes, and the boy who was adjusting his glasses moved his hand a bit to rest above his eyes in a facepalm. "Jazz, we're no-" He started to explain, but Jazz didn't let him finish.

"No, no, listen I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll talk to him later." She closed the discussion with finality. "What I wanted to talk to you two about, was what happened in the lab two nights ago. You've been avoiding it, I know, and Danny refused to say anything about it past what anything the doctors got out of him about pain. Which I'm sure he just brushed off as not as bad as it actually is, to be honest. But anyways I need to hear what happened so that I can help him through this. I know you two are going to as well, but for when he's home, you know? So please, tell me. The truth, don't brush it off." She crossed her arms and gave a pointed look at the two of them. "None of that secret stuff, no brushing anything off. Spill it." Her tone implied that there was really no way out of it, other than telling the truth. The whole truth, not the abridged or half-truth version the two had attempted previously. It simply wasn't going to work...not that the truth would go any better less the sincerity of it sinks in.

Sam glanced at her techno-geek friend with exasperation. He reluctantly nodded at her, giving her the green light to start explaining. Sam sighed, "Fine." Giving the area around them one last time, she noted safely that not one person was within earshot. She lowered her voice and leaned forward, "I mean other than we already summed it all up for you- and you didn't believe us, we'll just start from the beginning, okay?" Jazz nodded hesitantly, anxious about what she was bound to hear. Sam registered the affirmation, so she continued in a hushed voice. "Okay, well we were just hanging out as usual, and well, we went down to the lab to look for something."

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 **Updates will hopefully get into a rhythm, but believe me I'll post whenever I get a chapter done and edited!**

 **-CardboardBox**


	3. Opening to Another: Part One

**Hey guys! Ya, I got no schedule but hey im invested so im gonna keep writing for sure :).**

 **ALSO THIS IS PART ONE BECAUSE I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH TO SAY. this always happpens sigh.**

 **Anyways this is told 3rd person perspective and like the last 2 chapters the perspective kind of filters around a bit.**

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PART ONE

Jazz sat still on the stone stairs, her full attention on the two younger teens as they began to diverge into the events of their Friday afternoon.

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Two Days Prior- (Fenton Household):

"Really? He took this too?!" The grumbling was directed at the desk against the wall at one side of his bedroom. There was a clear space devoid of any dust, in the rough shape of a large rectangular box. Beside it lay a few tangled wires that sat in a sad pile. "Come on," There was a sigh, "I thought he just said last night that he'd stop doing this kind of thing!"

He raised a hand to his face whilst sighing towards the ceiling. He ended the action by messily sweeping his black hair out of his face in annoyance. Besides him, there were two more occupants in the small blue-walled room. One was sitting on the edge of the bed that was facing into the middle of the space, and the other teen was sitting in a green beanbag that was resting in between the bed and the desk. She was slouched back in what looked like a comfortable position and glanced at her disappointed friend with an amused look.

"Uh, am I missing something here, man?" The one on the bed inquired, leaning against the railing at the end of the bed. He rolled his head onto his hand as he too smiled amusedly at him.

Said offput boy groaned and glanced over his shoulder towards his bed. "No, it appears I'm the one that's missing something, Tuck." He turned his head upwards and gestured weakly with both arms at the dust-free space on the desk. "I just got that new game...Ugh, and it was in there too." He groaned again and slumped into his computer chair and spun to face his two friends.

Tucker looked over the desk and noticed the tangled wires, and the cause of disappointment his friend was experiencing. "You...he wouldn't dare, would he?!" He leaned his body over the railing dramatically and looked up at him expectantly. "Danny, tell me it isn't true-"

Danny shrugged and crossed his arms, "Well, apparently yeah he would dare. Bummer, I was really looking forward to kicking your ass, dude." He sighed loudly for what seemed like the umpteenth time that afternoon. Tucker's indignant sound of offense went unheard as the two slumped in horrible posture in both of their respective seats.

Sam sat quietly off to the side between the two and watched their dramatics. If what she thought happened did indeed happen, then she was pretty disappointed as well. After all, the three had been planning since homeroom earlier that day in school their plans to hang out. It had been voted fast that it would be Danny's house since it usually was the most interesting in general, but also left the three with little distraction since the occupants of the house were usually busy and paid little attention to them. Today, however, the house was free from any adult- aside from Jazz of course, but she was only 17 so, technically not an adult. Plus, she also kept to herself.

Either way, their plan was to take turns beating each other into a pulp in the virtual world of whatever game the two boys deemed most entertaining. Sam personally didn't care what game it was, she usually just watched them either get butt-hurt or overly egotistical. As long as the game didn't intentionally insult the environment, it was free game for a few laughs.

Except, it appeared that the game system- the only game system Danny owned that wasn't dead or 'not his'- was missing. With how Tucker and Danny were speaking, she knew exactly why. "So," She broke the silent mood of pity, "You're saying your dad took the console, yeah?" In response, she got silent nodding, "Do you know why at least? I was also definitely looking forward to seeing Danny kick your ass, Tucker. And well me doing it myself too- don't think you were getting out of Doomed later." She snickered in said boy's direction before looking back to the owner of the bedroom.

He chuckled softly at Sam's comment, then flicked his hand in a dismissive motion. "Well, he probably took it to take parts from it for some invention or whatever. Seriously, he's been stealing like every electrical appliance this past week! To the point where even my mother told him to calm it down, on the whole stealing innocent devices thing!" Danny gestured behind him at the desk at the word innocent, "It was last night, actually, that he agreed to stop taking things" His eyes widened, "...from the kitchen! ...Great so that meant he thought he had free access to anywhere else in the house." His hand was back on his forehead- he was going to get a mark soon if he kept at it.

Tucker pushed himself into a more proper sitting position, "That's just cheap!" The other two occupants agreed to the notion because honestly, they wouldn't put it past Mr. Fenton to do something like that. He was a smart man, that was for sure...but book smart. He was a genius when it came to scientific ideas, implications, and the likes. On the flip side, however, social skills weren't exactly his forté, and he often did what he wanted without really ever contemplating the repercussions. "What're you going to do?"

Danny gave him a look, "It's just a game system, Tuck...I'll ask my dad about it later, maybe get reimbursed or something. I hope."

"Okay!" Sam clapped and stood up from the beanbag and raised a hand in an indifferent manner. Tucker and Danny turned surprised looks in her direction, "No, we're gonna go get it!" She rolled her eyes at the confused reactions. "Look, if your dad just took it this morning, then he probably hasn't done anything with it yet. Therefore it's probably still just sitting in the lab. Why don't we just go down there, get it, and come back up? No harm down to us or your precious system." Sam finished, her own reasoning backed up by her interests in both watching the techno-geek get his ass handed to him in a few rounds of the new game Danny had gotten. And of course later beating the shit out of both of her friends in their favorite game, Doomed.

It was Tucker's turn to stand up off of the bed and he raised both of his hands towards her direction. "Do you really think that's a good idea? You know as well as I do that we aren't allowed down there."

Danny stood up and strolled across the room towards his door. Swinging it open, he shrugged, "True. But look, man, I'm not either but I still go down there sometimes. I mean I don't particularly like to, but it happens." He walked through the doorway and into the hallway and looked over his shoulder at the two that had begun to follow him out. "So yeah, what Sam said. Why not just go grab it? And if it isn't there? Well, same plan as before I guess." They really hadn't much else planned other than messing around more and well the Internet was always a thing to spend time on with friends, no matter what you were doing. Still, he was willing to bet that Sam was right and the system was lying untouched in the basement.

The house was eerily silent as they navigated their way through the average sized living space until they reached the stairs that led into the family's basement. The staircase was connected from the kitchen, where they waited as Danny fumbled with the door. It was unlocked...which shouldn't be surprising since it was probably his dad who had left it last, but really- it should have been locked at least. The lab was filled with...well he didn't really know, as he usually blanked out whenever his parents ranted on about their progress. Regardless, Danny had been down there enough to get the gist that it contained some harmful chemicals and weaponry. For what? Just the usual non-existent supernatural entities that were, well, ghosts. He'd heard of believers and mediums before, but his parents took it to a whole new level. They were fanatic, to say the least.

Without so much as a hesitation, Danny slipped down the stairs with his gaze never leaving the floor at the end. Tucker gulped and turned around frantically to reassure that no one was watching before he nearly fell down the stairs after Sam, who had easily followed their friend down into the dim depths without thought.

The room was spotless, for once. Or at least everything was brushed off to the sides and corners of the bleak and faintly dank area, so an effective mess if it were to be given a title. The middle was relatively open and free as if it was prepared for room to work on something.

Tucker's eyes immediately began scanning the edges of the room, his fright forgotten as it was replaced with curiosity. Sam grabbed his arm and led him to one of the larger heaps of technology and scraps in hopes of finding the game system. It would have been more beneficial to have more than one pair of eyes search each pile at one time to shorten the time they had to spend postponing their hangout. That, and it was unknown what time Danny's parents were bound to be home- it was likely for them to head straight down to resume their work when they did so.

Pile one was a bust as far as the two could tell, or as far as they were willing to look through the pile at least...over half of the contents were coated in a slightly translucent and sticky looking green substance that oozed lightly over it. It smelled sort of like burnt lemons, and overall it wasn't something either of them particularly wanted to touch anytime soon.

Pile two looked promising, as it contained the vast majority of what Danny had been explaining before. Mostly Kitchen appliances, a few TV remotes, and a few vague looking systems. Picking through the thankfully goo-free stack, Sam nudged tucker harshly on the shoulder. He began to glare at her until he noticed her outstretched fingers that were aimed at a fairly new looking gaming system, though it was a bit dusty and scratched up. His glare soon morphed into enthusiastic relief and he did a fist pump into the air with a goofy grin. Tucker turned to throw a high five he was sure to have been waiting for him when his hand passed through the empty air and he almost tripped into a slump on the floor. He was sure that Danny would be right there prepared for a successful high five turned bro hug...but it wasn't there. Neither was the boy himself even.

Sam barely noticed this slip up as she made the effort of removing the various devices off of their prize hidden partially from view. By the time the system was within reach, she was unable to focus as Tucker started making a commotion, which she figured was due to the missed high-five. She supposed that would upset her too, but as she got out of her crouch she found Tucker latch onto Danny's shoulders. He began yelling and shaking the shorter boy a bit violently.

As she apprehensively approached, Danny had yet to so much as react to their darker skinned friend who had kept yelling and made to slap him across the cheek. As the hand connected to the soft skin of his face with an audible thump, he lost his balance and fell to the floor. This at least broke him out of his stupor causing him to cradle his cheek and stare up at the two concerned faces in confusion.

Danny continued to rub his face as he made his way back into a standing position, and replaced his expression with a questioning one. "Dude, what the Hell?" He questioned quietly, letting both his arms fall limp to his sides, still warily looking at his assailant.

Tucker fumbled with his hands, "Danny, you- I don't know you like lost it." He gestured to a large hole in the edge of the room, far from the accumulated piles of stolen appliances and technology. "You were like staring over there like you were listening to something...but you seriously didn't hear me yell at you?"

"Or feel him shaking you? At all?" Danny gave them another confused look and looked back at the hole in the wall. He perked up to in inaudible noise and inched ever closer his stare never leaving its depths.

This time, however, he seemed to still be aware of his friends' presences as he acknowledged their questions. "Uh, sorry. But, you guys seriously can't hear that?!" He leaned towards the hole but kept a safe distance. Danny squinted and didn't move as he assumed both of his friends had shaken their head in negative or had no clue what he was talking about. Figures, he would be just as insane as his parents.

He couldn't shake it though...it was as if there was a voice coming from the husk of his parents greatest invention in the works. He couldn't make out what it was saying, but he could hear it and it intrigued him. Almost enough to check it out, but that was an insane idea. If he really did hear a voice in there, it was probably dangerous- and most likely the one thing that he wanted to believe did not exist. Ghosts. The daunting hole was the precursor entrance into the world of Ghosts after all. As much as he wasn't going to admit it, the more the days went on, the more the possibility of their existence grew on him.

He shook his head and turned to his friends. "Whatever, let's just go bring that damn game system upstairs, okay?" He glanced over his shoulder once more, "It's starting to freak me out."

Sam pat his shoulder reassuringly and sighed. "You can't expect me to believe that there's something in there? What did you hear?"

Danny blushed and looked away, "Well, it sounded like someone was talking, maybe calling out? I don't know but it sounded desperate, or something."

Sam shook her head and glanced at Tucker who shrugged before apprehensively regarding the hole. "It's not like there's anything really in it. But hey, why don't you look in there to make sure?" The goth's eyes lit up at the suggestion, and she fished into her pants pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She opened up the camera and looked placating at Danny. "Yeah man, how about this? You go in and check to see what you think you heard, and then we'll go in, take a picture, and THEN grab the game?" Danny fervently shook his head in denial.

Sam agreed, "Come on, that sounds a lot better than just kicking Tucker's ass, and you're being dramatic, Danny."

Danny stared back at the hole...they were right. There couldn't have actually been anything in the space, it was just a small tunnel leading into a dead end as far as he was concerned. Besides, he didn't want to give off the vibe that he was anything like his parents when it came to the whole spirit thing, even to his friends. Well, he wasn't like his parents really, it was just the whole belief thing...but no, no there were no ghosts. They weren't real, he tried to reason with himself. He forced it into his head that he wasn't gonna end up a laughing stock like his father specifically.

His mind made, he sighed and nodded. "Alright, alright. I'll get a look to 'satisfy' my stupid curiosity, and then a picture, and then we're kicking Tucker's ass."

As Tucker was going off about how the conversation always seemed to come back to him losing in their upcoming games, Sam gave Danny a quick gleeful hug and rushed to the small closet horizontal to the hole. She must have been hiding her excitement behind her perpetual gothic indifference she wore all day, but it was hardly surprising based on her interests if he really thought about it. Goth- I mean she practically lived for this stuff, other than her harsh disbelief in it actually existing. That's probably why she was so calm about it- or rather excited actually.

Danny sent a chuckle at Tucker, who was had quit whining and instead had his arms crossed with a huff. His chuckle nearly turned to a choke when a piece of clothing smacked into his head while he was inhaling a breath. He coughed dramatically and glared at the offending garment. It was- a hazmat. A white one with black accents that their parents had made for him...there was a light purple one for his sister, Jazz as well. Apparently for whenever they decided to join their parent's profession...

He deadpanned at it, and crumpled it into a ball before tossing it onto a nearby table. "Sam, I'm not wearing that. You guys are right, it's nothing, and besides, you guys are coming too after and you don't have...oh god you wanted to use this as blackmail, didn't you?" He glared at her guilty expression. "Okay, fine, fine. If you guys want me to go in so bad, I'm going, okay?" He let out a deep sigh and turned towards the hole.

There was no hesitation as he walked in a few feet in large strides. He stood there a moment, glancing about the end of the dark hole, and turned around to face his two friends. He looked relieved, but also a bit unenthusiastic. The hole was empty of course, but it still freaked him out even the tiniest bit, ever since he heard that voice...but he was shrugging it off for Sam and Tucker. Hence the unenthused expression he was giving Sam's phone camera. He doubted he'd be able to live down photographic evidence proving that he was scared to walk into a freaking empty hole, so he was careful to hide it from his expression.

He made a move to call the two in there with him for a group selfie or whatever it was that Sam had wanted when he felt a chill against the back of his neck. He shivered and stopped the beckoning hand motion abruptly. As quick as the chill had set in and made the hairs on Danny's arms raise, there was a scream. The desperate kind that pulled at your heartstrings, but also scared you half to death as well.

He whipped himself to face the noise and nearly fell over in the process. He caught himself on the wall which gave way a bit under his touch as the scream died down. The voice had lowered to a desperate whisper and steadily rose to a tone that seemed to be talking to him directly. He leaned towards it, desperately trying to figure out what it was saying...it was almost as if it were calling to him. It was pleasant to hear at first, like a mother telling her children a story which placed a blanket of contentedness over him. It soon morphed into a warning, concern, but this went right over his head.

He was vaguely aware of the further drop in temperature and the rising thrum of electricity rise around him. The tunnel lit up, bathing him in light green and revealing a vague figure. So there was someone talking to him after all!

The figures face was blurred, but the eyes were vivid and very frightened. Bright pupil-less green eyes met his own, and the voice was brought back to him instantly. The eyes widened further, creating an unease in Danny...but he was so mesmerized by the figure that he hadn't noticed the concern heavy around him. The figure rushed forward, or maybe he was the one that had been flung towards it he really didn't know. Danny felt the sudden contact of the creature blast into him, causing an involuntary scream to escape his lips.

It felt as if the two beings were being squashed together under the same rock, being forced into each other. The creature's screams joined his own in a display of horror and raw discomfort. Two beings being thrown together in the mist of the thrumming power continued on with the rough yelling.

As if he never thought it would end, it finally felt as if the two that had been so forcibly thrown into each other had finally ended, sending each of them sprawling in opposite directions. Their screams faded into coarse whispers before fading altogether.

Danny felt himself head further and further from the other creature, and where he knew the entrance to the hole had to be. His world was filled with green, and the tight force on his body still felt constricting.

The green blurred into unfocused blackness, and he lost consciousness.

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 **So we ended it in Danny's perspective (well, still 3rd but still lol) The next chapter will focus on otherwise :).**

 **-CardboardBox**


	4. Opening to Another: Effectively Opened

**And oof here is chapter 4! It's a bit choppy, but hey this is basically the last backstory driven chapter. Yup the next one will be focused in the perspective of everyone's favorite: Not-Danny! whew.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy-I don't own anything sigh.**

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Part Two-

Jazz stared ahead at the pavement in anger and confusion, "What do you mean, you just stood there and watched him go in there?!" She placed her head in between both of her arms in exasperation. "Why'd you even make him go in there in the first place?! Besides, going towards the freaky noise is a bad idea! Haven't you seen any horror movie?"

Tucker winced, but waved her questions off, his face paling as he did so. She was right, it was dumb. What the three of them had done was rather rash and idiotic in hindsight- but hey, it was 20-20 after all. "Uh. Well, neither me or Sam heard it, just-"

Jazz knit her eyebrows together and lifted her head slightly from her arms to give them a stressed and confused expression. "No, wait..." A low gust of wind swept the strands of hair out of her face and made them shiver, "what does this have to do with what you told me earlier? About that," She motioned behind them at her house where most of the faint crashing and yelling noises had ceased. "not being Danny?"

"We're getting to that," Sam stressed pointedly. She felt guilty, and she hated the fact that she was guilty. Just simply going home to ignore the problem sounded blissful at the moment. Avoiding issues would only stress the future, but it would alleviate the current situation as tempting as that sounded. Only the dread of what the next school day would ensure and the nagging thoughts of their friend's wellbeing kept her grudgingly sharing the truth to Jazz.

A slight chill was beginning to breeze about, alongside the slightly darkening sky. It cast orange and pink hues around the three, stressing the somber mood swimming around them. It was getting late, and their respective parents were bound to be wondering whereabouts and cordiality. Well, especially in the case of Sam. The Manson's were rather- imposing when it came to their daughter's life as it would seem and had a rather unfortunate dislike to her choice in friends and her choice in outward appearance.

Tucker slumped himself against Sam, the two leaning against each other as they braced for the finale of their eventful Friday afternoon and the inevitable following day. As it was, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had already come to the decision to send Danny to school the following day, regardless of the fact that said teen had only just been released from the hospital a day before. This was apparently due to his 'behaviors' and the general act of seeming animated enough to not spend a day at home resting. Though, the two younger teens suspected it had more to do with the parents not wanting to deal with his attitude for another full day. Not that they could blame them...the sheer difference was hard to ignore and hard to tolerate for long.

There was also a chance that he had simply either agreed to it not aware of what the school day would bring or had said nothing against it. It was likely he was unwilling to spend more time with the Fenton parents than he had to.

"After...after the screams died down... All I could do was watch, like my eyes were glued to the portal." Her fists clenched empty air, stiffening against Tucker. "It was like I couldn't move or do anything but...watch the swirling green. Even when he finally got himself out of it...I just couldn't move." She hesitated, the breeze blowing strands of her hair into her glistening eyes. "I-I just can't imagine how it was for...him. We only watched and listened." She choked on her final words and pulled away from Tucker to wrap herself in her own shaky arms. Tucker himself had hunched over and uselessly hovered his hands above her back.

It had been paralyzing- Sam and Tucker stared at the hole their friend had gone into, eyes wide, mouths held open. Sam's operating phone camera held limply in her hand, where the two had gotten as close as they dared to the hole that was only spluttering and radiating cold sparks of power.

Simply thinking about it, and mostly brushing it off had numbed the emotions regarding the event where they lost their best friend. It had made the whole situation feel numb in a way, less impactful. Aside from the ghost's behaviors, her brain had subconsciously shut out the worst of the event from her mind. In an odd sort of defense mechanism.

But now...reliving it directly- sharing it out loud...the bluntness of the situation finally hit Sam like a wall. Or probably more appropriately the Fenton RV, appearing out of nowhere and obnoxiously sailing its way through anything in its path.

Sam let out a dry chuckle that stiffened the dry air, "Jazz, it was a mistake. We know that." She straightened up in a forced maneuver, knocking Tucker's suspended arms away in the process. "I-I got a video of it on my phone. Because we were about to follow him in, I wanted a video of it...so. I can send it to you if you want to watch it, but the last thing I want to do is watch that right now." She gestured limply to the cell phone that was resting on her lap, pulling it out when she straightened up into a proper position.

Jazz hesitated, searching both of the other teen's features, then the ground. Slowly she nodded and took the device out of her hand. She unlocked the device, as it had no password and silently went about opening the messaging app and sending it to her own number. She didn't exactly blame Sam for not even wanting to spare a glance at the video yet, it must have been bad enough to see the first time in person. Jazz was, however, upset at the two, and still confused. It was childlike to examine something so potentially dangerous alone! Even if ghosts weren't real, which she wasn't sure about herself, it was still a large electrical machine that hadn't even been working in the first place! That's dangerous in itself, but when you add in the potential other-wordly probably toxic components...well it was a disaster waiting to happen. Surely Danny had gotten that enough from all the lectures the two got from their parents. Even if he did mostly ignore them as she did herself.

Her phone broke the silent prodding once more with a harsh blip of sound as the video had been delivered. Jazz ignored it to be viewed later, she'd have to watch it alone...if it was one thing she trusted about this conversation, it was that it would be a bad idea to let her parents know just yet. Once she got a better hand on the situation, maybe breaking that trust might be more optimal...if it helped, then screw trust and secrecy.

By the time Jazz worked up the courage to ignore the frustration and enter a level-headed mindset much like she used for counseling practice, the air had flitted into darkness. The crisp early fall wind biting at their bare arms, nearby street lamps casting them in their yellow glow.

She never managed to get her words out before yelling reached the ears of the three teens sitting in the dark driveway. It...it was Danny again. It had startled her more than she was willing to admit, as she had slipped back into the normalcy of everything, regardless of the heavy conversation. She sighed and glanced at the lights shining through the windows of her home. "Look, you two should get home. There's school tomorrow, and I won't pressure you to more answers until later. I'm not heartless, I get that this is a heavy topic. What kind of psychologist to-be would it make me if I didn't respect your wishes?" The two younger teens agreed hastily and quickly stood up from the stone stairs.

Tucker awkwardly chuckled once more, "Uh, well be careful with Dan- uh I mean with the ghost!" and quickly made his way down the driveway and on the sidewalk with Sam only a few feet ahead.

The ghost...? First, they tell her that her brother isn't who she thought he was, then they tell her that the three had messed around with dangerous machinery, and now there's a ghost!?

Unless they expected her to believe that her 'brother' was the ghost.

She swallowed uneasily, it didn't seem improbable given the circumstances...but nah. They obviously have some pent up emotional pain from the event and are covering it up with a lie that their minds would like as to protect their own emotions. Surely. So ghosts it was then.

When the two distant shapes of her brother's best friends finally faded from the glow of the furthest street light, Jazz slid open the door to her house. Immediately the noises she had heard from outside had ceased. It would seem that her presence interrupted the verbal argument between her brother and her mother. Curious, she made her way into the kitchen. At once Danny's eyes were locked onto her, seemingly contemplating her.

"You," he pointed at her demandingly. "Yes, could you get her to grant access to the downstairs? Because for some reason I am being denied entry?" He glared at Maddie, who was effectively blocking the entryway to the basement lab, a growing expression of annoyance plastered on her face.

She rested her hands on his shoulders, making the boy flinch and momentarily try to break free from her grasp. She did not budge, so he stopped trying to fight it and turned his gaze back to Jazz as to reason with her to fix his situation. "Come now, Danny, honey." She started in a gentle voice, "I know you've been laying in a bed for a while at the hospital, but you just got back...you should really be up in your room resting. Now."

Their mother had begun to usher the boy away from the door, where god knows what he wanted to do. Jazz watched as the boy groaned frustratedly, but complied anyway. It was almost comical and saddening to look at simultaneously. "Fine, fine. I will leave the door alone." She suppressed a shudder as he brushed by Jazz's shoulder, Maddie following after.

"And?"

"Ergh, and I will stay in the bed. I understand." He grumbled up the staircase, Maddie settling beside Jazz at the bottom of the stairs. They stood and watched, listening to the sounds of him trudging to his room, and clicking the door shut.

Maddie let out a long exhale of air that she had been holding in and turned to her daughter. "I know this may be a lot to ask of you, but I'm going down to the lab with your father." She reached out and grabbed her daughter into a small hug before continuing. "Jazz, could you keep an eye on your brother and make sure he keeps resting?" Maddie drew out of the hug and held onto her shoulders to look into her face. "It seems like he took the whole thing badly, mentally at least, so I want to keep him monitored...for now. But I really have to go downstairs and deal with the...recent development of the portal." She glanced back towards the kitchen solemnly, before turning back to her daughter. "Think you can do that for me, sweetie?"

Jazz stared at her for a moment. As far as her parents were concerned, as she was before Sam and Tucker had explained what had actually happened, the portal had opened...but Danny was not inside. It was thought that he had simply been near it enough to be shocked by the electrical currents created when it had started up. The faint electrical burns etched into his skin surely supported the concept. Overall, however, it was unknown how the portal even got started in the first place, even to the boy's best friends. It seemed everyone was at a loss...and they had yet to confront Danny with the question due to his injuries.

She blinked and gently reached up to her own shoulders and brushed her mother's hands away. "Relax mom, I'll poke my head in every once in a while to check on him." She told her mother reassuringly, she herself glancing into the kitchen and towards the basement door. She noticed the woman's hesitation. "Maybe you should just head downstairs, dad might raid all of the fudge down there again without supervision soon," Jazz watched her expression fall comically for a moment before rolling her eyes, and turning away from her daughter. "And about Danny? Don't worry about him, I can handle anything he throws, just focus on...that." Maddie visibly relaxed at Jazz's final words, and rest her hand on the cold door handle that led to the flickering basement.

"Thanks, sweetie." Jazz simply shrugged as she stood onlooking while her mother excitedly swung open the creaky door and rush down the stairs. In her haste, she had left the door open...based on Danny's intent on getting himself down there, she approached the door with an audible chuckle and clicked the door shut firmly. It was likely that their parents would probably be up all night figuring out the swirling portal. Personally, she aimed to stay as far away from the wicked device as was possible with it being underneath her own house.

The teen stepped away from the door and trudged through her dimly lit home in silence. For once, Jazz was actually dreading the idea of waking up the next morning and making her way through a whole day of school. It would inevitably be full of her checking up on her brother, due to his current mental state. She silently rued the reasoning for actually letting the boy go to school...he had just gotten out of the hospital after an electrical accident for crying out loud!

She mulled over the idea to persuade their parents in the morning to let him stay home (again) as she was making her way through the upstairs hallway towards her own bedroom. It was doubtful her parents would even be willing to discuss the concept, as they would most likely still be in their lab.

A sudden chill overtook Jazz and made the hair on the nape of her neck rise in apprehension, causing her to halt her movement. She froze. It felt like something was watching her, or rather looking through her. Slowly she turned her head to swivel it around her in attempts to catch (or hopefully not catch) awaiting eyes staring at her. Upon doing so, she realizing she was standing right outside her brother's door which was cracked open leaving a small visible gap to his bed.

There Danny sat, looking straight at Jazz with a dead somber expression. "Danny? You alright?" She gently pushed the door aside and leaned against the doorway.

He didn't respond for a moment, only opting to stare at her.

When he did finally speak, it spooked Jazz into a slight flinch against the doorframe, "...J-azz" he started unsure like he struggled to get the first word out before speaking smoothly. "Why do you not let me get down to the entry? Either way, I do not think I would even get anywhere with it anyway, maybe it is better I stay up here?" He sounded more to be having his own debate rather than talking to her.

"Why do you want to go down to the lab so badly? Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?" Jazz sent the accusation a bit harsher than she had meant to, but he didn't seem to mind.

Danny simply opened his mouth at a loss, "Uh," He closed it suddenly and finally looked away towards the window on the side of the room. Instantly the chill that had been plaguing Jazz lifted, leaving her with a faint shiver. "Just- I wish to be alone. Goodnight- right?" He continued to stare at the window, blocking his expression from her.

This wasn't like her brother, but maybe a few more days may do him good, already he was a bit less intense. Maybe this was a good sign? Perhaps going to school would actually help him too, though it was uncertain. Either way, Jazz smiled dimly and turned away from the door. "Goodnight, little brother." She pulled the door further towards herself effectively sealing it, the chill leaving with it. She simply played the temperature off as it coming from Danny's open window...it had been pretty chilly outside as the three had discussed.

Feeling slightly better than before, she finally made her way into her room, flopping onto her bed without bothering to change first. She lay there a moment, grasping her phone to her chest...perhaps she would wait to watch the video Sam had taken. To be honest, she was nervous about what she may see.

Jazz flopped over to her side, facing her wall and braced herself. It was unlikely she would be able to fall asleep as it was, it wouldn't exactly hurt to play the video anyways, regardless of the content. Her mind was too active.

She slowly pulled her phone in front of her face, holding it above her, bathing her face in its light. Bracing, she tapped on the video file and held her breath as the grainy video started to run.

Even with the grainy footage and bad angle due to the phone being dropped surely from shock, Jazz felt goosebumps cover her arms as she watched on. Luckily it seemed the phone landed against something, leaving the camera still facing the suddenly explosively light portal.

The video seemed to fly by, her breath finally hitched out of her throat when it had ceased.

Locking the phone, she haphazardly tossed it to the side and lie face up and gazing unseeing at the ceiling. Only one thing through her mind.

The image of a creature dripping in green, smoke spewing off of it. Looking so scared, so hurt, and so unlike her brother before collapsing terrifyingly in a heap. His glowing eyes fading and closing. The smoke continuing to stream off less and less, the dripping green goo dissipating.

Lastly, the figure looking exactly like her brother, lying in a broken heap. Clearly hurt, and covered in small burns.

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 **OkayOkay I'm sorry about that. Next chapter will finally lighten up a bit! Wooooop.**

 **Feel free to review with any feedback, it really helps guys! Thanks for the support again :)**

 **-CardboardBox**


	5. First Real Day

**I didn't forget, I swear :) ?**

 **ANYWAY, this story will now mostly focus on this new perspective. I know that the perspective change has been a bit of a ride these past few chapters, but that was just for background information to be set in place. Now that we are out of THAT, we have moved into the actual story! And it will mostly stay in this perspective, I promise!**

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Staying in the room was boring. Why was it that he be forced to stay in it even after actually complying to stay in the 'hospital' room!? What more did they really want from him? Surely given the circumstance, he was being quite submissive to these stupid 'rules' he kept having to follow...

After the Jazz had left, the boy had continued to stare out the window and at the moon for a long while.

The passage of time had always been a confusing topic and had thus become a trivial concept to be ignored. It's not exactly like his home even needed the instance of time anyway (aside from the ruler of time, but he was not to be messed with). To be frank, everyone was already dead, so why did it matter? Really, he was technically 'dead' himself, time was relatively useless for someone who was not going anywhere anytime soon.

Except for the fact that he was very much alive at the moment. That was more than a bit annoying. The rhythmic pounding on his chest droned on and on. Stupidly wasting energy by inhaling and exhaling oxygen constantly- It was a wonder how anyone did this without forgetting. Even his own body felt so...solid. Constricted, heavy and grounded to, well the ground. It felt like he was not only trapped but actively being made fun of. He couldn't even float, for the sake of the Realms!

The only real indication of time was the faint grainy and muffled sounds he had heard not long after the Jazz had left coming from her direction. As well as the darkening of the world outside the window.

The shadows of the night continued to get deeper and deeper through the frame, a familiar comforting coldness came with it, sending a wave of calmness into his emotions.

Emotions...that was another issue. His thoughts were constantly racing, contemplating situations he would have never come up with on his own accord. A cold cloud had been lifted off of his core metaphorically and probably literally too. Having this numbness taken away, it opened his core to experience everything openly- and quite suddenly too. He decided he did not like this. These emotions were too complicated for him. Why should he care about not wanting to upset the humans he was forced to be around? And yet, he cared enough to listen to what they told him to do. Why should he listen to the two that caused this? They were responsible, they should listen to him. In fact, really, everyone should listen to him. No one here held any power over him.

And yet, it felt better to just bide his time. He'd find a way out on his own with no pesky humans.

His gaze lowered from the refreshingly breezy outdoors and traveled across the room he had mostly ignored. In one quick scan, it was decided that it would continue to be ignored. He wouldn't be coming back in the room that felt more like a cage from the Great Hunter ever again anyway. Hopefully.

He lifted his head to face the ceiling almost willing for it to disappear so that he could stare at the night sky. It was then that he noticed with admiration that the surface of the ceiling was coated in glowing stars set up in intricate shapes. How did the boy- the Danny -manage to get stars to come down from the sky and rest in his room? He was thoroughly impressed and continued to stare at them.

Tracing the patterns with his eyes over and over, it was truly admirable. And for a human to manage this? He didn't want to hate someone who could control the stars, maybe the Danny would not be hated for now even if he hated this situation. Nodding to himself, he couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at his lips as he gazed upwards at the glowing lights.

As time went on the stars began to dim, their aura fading more and more as he watched. Were they displeased with him? Were they ceasing to be? Starting to get a bit panicked he frantically bore his whole gaze at the expanse of the ceiling at the now dimmed stars.

A violent screeching from a box near where he was sitting broke him from his panicked reverie quite suddenly. He spared a glance away from the dying stars to look at the abomination causing the sound and found it to be within arms reach. It had been peaceful before, probably resting its energy, but now the small being was vibrating threateningly.

The small box was using an intimidation factor, it appeared, flashing its bright red face continuously at him. Probably trying to scare him away with the showcasing of its powerful voice too. He scoffed at it. "I would stop that, little residue." When it still continued to flash its eyes and screech at him, he sent a smirk towards it. "Fine. For now, this is my haunt. And you will leave." He reached out a bare arm towards the still screaming box trying to find the energy to fill the air around his hand.

When nothing happened he cursed. Of course nothing was happening, there was no ectoplasm in or around him to manipulate into power. Fine, if it needed to be done the hard way- he lifted the arm and created a fist instead. Slamming it down in one smooth motion, the box exploded into many pieces upon contact with his fist. Gray clouds spewed out of it, little sparks of energy flitting out aimlessly into the air. Luckily, its voice had spluttered off into nothingness, and its red face became duller than the stars above his head.

Oh, the stars! He had almost forgotten of their desperate state.

When he quickly lifted his head upwards, however, all glow was gone. Disappointed, he turned back towards the window again. This time it was bright outside, filling the room with it. Perhaps the stars were scared of the light? It was justified he supposed, he never really liked the brightness of it either. Besides, his home had few instances of natural light so it was an unusual thing to begin with. He would still rather avoid it, so he glared out the window at the offending light.

Almost as obnoxious as the weak box, a loud rhythmic pounding came from the door quite out of nowhere. Along with it came a muffled voice that he did not want to hear. The Jazz- as he was told before to call her. He settled for sending his ongoing glare at the door for it was bound to burst open. If it was one thing you do not do, it's mess with a ghost's lair door when said ghost was not in the mood. However, he supposed, this was not his lair so he should not be protective over it. Nor was he a ghost at the moment either. That didn't stop the irritation though.

"Danny? Get up!" The Jazz yelled through the wooden door that had begun to creak open at her touch. Through his glare, he watched her form appear into the entry of the boring room he had been forced into. She was slouched over, her hair in an absolute mess, and looked about ready to grab him and yank him away if need be. That was until she noticed him glaring at her. "Oh, you're up...? I thought you'd be out like a light. Well, I'll uh drive you to school this morning, okay? Be ready in 15, downstairs."

She started to close the door again before she paused, her eyes taking in his upright position on the bed. "Did...did you sit like that all night?" Her eyes widened when she looked to his left at the still smokey ghost-like box he had ended not long before. He softened his gaze away from the glare and into a less hardened look as he spared a glance at the decimated box and looked back up to the Jazz. "What happened to your alarm clock?!" A hand reached her forehead to sweep messy red strands of hair out of her face, "I...don't tell me. We'll just have to get a new one I suppose. Just, go get ready." She sighed drainingly and turned her dishelved form away, sealing the door as she did so.

She looked sick to him, kind of like the stars on the ceiling. Maybe the sunlight affected her too? He shook his head...he didn't particularly care if the Jazz was sick he reminded himself.

Standing up, he stretched with some audible pops that came from his limbs. It spooked him pretty badly not knowing why his body complained at him- internal structures were confusing. Shrugging it off, the boy slowly took a few steps into the center of the room away from the bed. Something across from him caught his eye- a mirror he suspected, for a reflection was staring back at him.

Ruffled black hair, pink tinted skin, and vaguely lively blue eyes loomed back at him causing a slight growl to escape his lips. He felt the urge to end the mirror much like the 'alarm clock', but halted as he lifted his arm towards it and the figure did the same and discouraged him. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the eyes had shown a bright green. Hope sparked through him before the color all but vanished, and he was left disgusted at the reflection once more.

He grunted and grabbed the clean white shirt that was hung over a chair to put it on for the hell of it. It just seemed right and he rather liked the simple design of the red circle in the middle. He also picked up the bag that was thrown haphazardly next to the long table in the room, as he felt as he should grab it before leaving the room.

Time to do whatever the Jazz had indicated, it seemed. Here he was, listening to humans again- what was becoming of the ghost that he was?

* * *

It was decided early on that 'School' was dejectedly bad. So bad in fact that it had taken every ounce of will he had to not just leave- for he had tried three times already and had been roped back in by different forces each time.

All before the renowned 'lunch' period.

'School' had started immediately with a distaste. Silent car ride with often side glances sent at him from the Jazz (better than the first experience with cars in the form of the 'RV'. However, still not good). The first sight-full of hundreds of teenagers flocking throughout crowded entryways was unexpected and just as emotionally horrifying. He had somehow managed to find his way towards the hallway he thought his 'locker' was, as the humans called those storage boxes, and had stared at it. That was, at least, until the two humans approached from behind and began opening their own storage boxes right beside 'his' own. He had, of course, immediately opted to walk away and leave the horrid building the two behind, but was stopped by their warm hands on his shoulders. He had protested, but it had fallen on deaf ears as they tried to quiet him and usher him into yet another boring room- except this time it was full of seats facing one wall and...full of people...staring at him being forcefully shoved into a chair of his own. The two of them sat down on either side of him and kept staring at him as if he was going to disappear suddenly, or shoot into the sky and flee. Both of which, mind you, he very much wanted to do. But could not.

So he glared at them back, growing satisfied as they flinched.

That was just the beginning it seemed, as it was thankfully over quickly...but was replaced with worse boring rooms. Worse.

It was worse because one of the two despicable humans- the Tucker as he was called -dragged him away from the building's exit and into another room with him and once again forced him into a seat next to the one he took. What was with all these rooms he had to sit in?

An adult had walked into the room he and the Tucker were in after a harsh alarming noise had thundered throughout the building almost scaring his core right out of him. An alert, he suspected once he had relaxed his form as every 'students' sent their gaze towards the adult, and had ceased communicating. Interesting...maybe he'd instigate an alarming sound to use whenever he wanted a human's attention to get the upper hand again.

'Role call' did not go well. Was it really his fault for not responding to a name that was not his.

The first few rooms went by painfully slow, either one of the two rightfully-resented humans had pulled him by his arm to whichever room they decided he should go to for a lecture from various adults. It kind of seemed a bit like brainwashing, which brought a wave of anger through him. Not for the humans' sakes, but due to the reminder that he was not in the Ghost Zone anymore. Some ghosts, powerful ones with the right aura, can extend their core energy unto other ghosts or creatures and brainwash them into control. It seemed similar to him, and he did not like that.

It was around 'lunch' period that he had found himself once more walking towards the big double doors leading to the exit. The Sam and the Tucker surprisingly did not make a move to stop him like they had the first two times. They simply stood behind him and watched as he slumped towards the outside. He smiled and reached an arm towards the handle.

That was until a nagging feeling bit briefly in his head...why did he feel bad for leaving!? He verbally groaned. Fine, he wouldn't leave yet.

Reluctantly, he had turned around to face them and began walking back to the two. "Alright, alright. I will stay." His own mind, betraying him! He really needed to get back to the Zone...

The Tucker slapped a hand onto his back, causing him to flinch away and glare at him. It satisfied him to see the green reflect off their forms- that means his eyes went green again! It didn't last long, however, and the Tucker looked horrified a moment before standing upright and brushing his hands down his sweater. "Er, anyway, good for you to realize you have to stay here. You know how much trouble you'd get into for ditching? Not to mention detention."

Detention? Like the Warden's prison? He would rather like to avoid that if it were the case.

The human must have noticed his confusion because he chuckled at him. The nerve. "Hey, don't worry about it, man. So long as you stay out of trouble. Which you've done surprisingly well with so far."

"Uh, guys? Think you wanna get to lunch before it ends?" The Sam rather suddenly pointed out in a manner that sounded rather annoyed. He felt like she didn't have the right to be upset, only he did really...

He continued standing as their forms lumbered off, staring at the floor. Contemplating, he focused his attention on the worn and scratched up tile. Disgusting. This whole place was disgusting. Even he felt disgusting- humans...the true cause of all this disgustingness.

"You coming, Danny? We're gonna miss lunch!" The male human shouted from behind own shoulder. "And I'm not doing that. I need sustenance, man." More listening it seemed...

He began to follow the two (walking and not getting dragged, wow a first) towards the room sanctioned for lunch with the two of them until he paused and stopped them in their tracks.

"No, wait,"

The Tucker and the Sam abruptly stopped movement and looked at him worriedly. "What now?" The Sam exhaled deeply.

He pointed a finger accusingly in the girl one's face when she turned to look at his interruption, "I shall follow you now, however, you will stop referring to me as that boy. You said to keep quiet about it. I did. I comprehend that the others will not understand, however, you," He spat the word, moving his dangling finger towards the other human, "know better. I do not know if I can take being called 'Danny' by every human I come across." He crossed his arms a bit dramatically. "I will have you know that I was powerful enough of a ghost to possess a name, it would do you good to use it, humans." He growled at the two, relishing in their repeated flinch.

The Sam shrugged it off, "Maybe if you stop calling us human when referring to us?" She paused after saying this and her eyes widened. The other human beat her to what she was bound to inquire, however.

"So you do have a name!" The boy beamed, jumping a bit closer to his face than what he would like to tolerate.

It was actually rather amusing, he supposed. He allowed a slight smile tug at his lips and nodded his affirmative at the two intrigued humans.

He pushed lightly past the two of them in the direction that they were heading in previously, causing the two to gasp and quickly jump to follow him. "Well, what is it, dude?! We've been wondering like crazy! We didn't know what to call you!" The Tucker rambled excitedly.

The Sam shushed him and pointed to a crowd of humans that were beginning to eye them as they walked past. "Right, sorry." He corrected his volume to a lower pitch and continued, "Come on!"

He chuckled and then shrugged off the uncomfortably warm feeling the lively emotion brought to him. "If you are to refer to me only. It is a sign of power, yes?" He mentioned sternly as the caught up to him and continued leading the way to their precious lunch period. "It is Xuyfqrlrrytu. Or as translated, Phantomooraus." He waved a hand towards his chest and felt proud of himself.

They had approached a lone table at the far reaches of a very crowded and large room. Secluded, and far enough from the source of the foul smell of food- one of his least favorite human things. "Really?" The Sam's voice reached his ears as the three made to sit down. He sat across from the two of them, opting to not sit directly next to either of them. "Sounds kind of long...and confusing. Especially that first one...what language is that?"

Only the powerful ghosts were able to make a real name for themselves, it really should impress them...wait. Long and confusing? It was not! "What is wrong with the length? And that would be Ghost Tongue- Lvruq Qrfltg." The Ghost Tongue whisped off his breath, creating a slight echo, proving his point.

The two stared at him...it was better than their constant concerned looks from earlier, but now it looked like they were laughing at a prank from a master such as himself. "I'm sorry but it's just hard to take you seriously! I know you're...Phantomooraus" a heavy laugh bubbled out of the Tucker's throat and cut off what he was saying. The girl joined in, both eying his glare and laughing harder together. Laughing- at him!

The Tucker had finally calmed himself down enough to finish his sentence, but only after several moments of labored breathing. "Sorry but," He chuckled again, "I know you're not Danny, but you look just like him and this is just hard to take seriously." He laughed again for a moment, but apparently finally caught the brunt of his offended and angry gaze as he cut himself off and avoided eye contact.

"Wait," The Sam grabbed his attention back away from the boy who was uncomfortable looking at his food in front of him. "What about Phantom? If we shorten it, it's easier...like a nickname! And it sounds cooler, too. Not as lame."

His gaze softened and he stared emotionless at her. What?

"Actually, no that's a good idea!" The Tucker bounced back agreeing with the girl. "How's that sound."

The newly dubbed Phantom rolled his eyes (A new maneuver for him, but fitting he supposed) and frowned. "Shorten it...?" He thought about it. Maybe it would be better...? "I suppose," He nodded.

Phantom averted his gaze to the empty table in front of him while the two continued to eat their food. There was no way that he would be eating again any time soon- the 'hospital' had forced him to, disgusting his every sense with the foreignness of it. Ghosts did not eat, and this ghost was not going to either.

The atmosphere around him quieted suddenly, and he relaxed. Finally, a moment to clear his mind of the solid humans surrounding him from all angles. It wasn't until he felt a large and grubby hand land on his head that he heard the frantic noises of the two slightly tolerable humans sitting across the table from him. Without so much as a warning, the hand on the back of his head rushed forwards and slammed his forehead into the table.

He groaned and lifted his head slowly from the scratched up surface, and made an effort to turn his head towards the attacker. Before he could, however, the hand was back and joined with the other. They grabbed him by the color of the shirt he liked and hoisted him into the air, suspended.

He made for a glare to be sent at the attacking ghost but paused as he caught a glimpse of what he thought had to be a ghost. It was just another damn human.

The human boasted a muscular frame and the putrid scent of sour sweat that would make any ghost or human cringe. "Hey, Fentonia! I heard about your little shock from this weekend, too bad it didn't keep you out longer...!" He smirked and lifted Phantom a little higher and used his other fist to point out the light Lichtenberg scars tracing the skin of his arms and neck.

"Dash, stop!" Phantom barely heard the Sam shout out over his bubbling anger.

NO HUMAN MADE A MOCKERY OF PHANTOM.

The Dash's face paled suddenly, and his grubby fist lowered Phantom slightly, "Why the hell are you so cold, freak?" He spat, before regaining his composure, and slamming him onto the floor of the room. The vile attacker spat at him and turned away in strides. "Next time I won't be so easy, loser," was shouted over the large shoulder as he faded further and further away.

Phantom stared at the far-reaching ceiling, his back uncomfortably shoved into the floor. How dare he? How _dare_ he?

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews again, they really help!**

 **Stay toasty~**

 **-Cardboard**


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